Posted
by
Soulskill
on Monday June 27, 2011 @06:17PM
from the netcraft-confirms-it-then-denies-it dept.

cardoni writes "Dan Yoder, CTO at Border Stylo, offers insights on the current state of simultaneous iPhone / Android development using PhoneGap and his thoughts on the debate over native apps versus Web apps. Quoting: 'One problem with the debate is that it’s a false dichotomy, since you can embed a Web browser within a native application. And, conversely, you can extend an embedded Web browser to provide access to native APIs. The two alternatives have not been mutually exclusive for years now. And, focusing on the strengths of native applications ignores the benefits of Web applications. For example, there’s the appeal of writing code that will run on a variety of different devices, ranging from mobile phones, to tablets, to laptops, even to gaming consoles. Virtually every major device platform now sports a Web browser, and it can often be discreetly embedded within a native application. To boot, much of this code can be tested using a Web browser, which enables more easily automated testing. It’s also easier to find Web developers than it is to find native developers.'"

Android and iOS have very different UI conventions. TFA mentions the problem but then ignores it. By using PhoneGap (or any of the other similar products) you still need to build two different apps if you want to get good results. Just look at PhoneGap's featured apps examples. Almost every single one of them is written for iOS. If you bring them to Android users wont accept them as native. They will feel wrong.
I wrote a post about this very problem into my blog few weeks back:
http://www.androiduipatterns.com/2011/06/differences-between-android-and-ios-ui.html [androiduipatterns.com]
Benefit of PhoneGap etc. is that you can use web technologies to write the apps. It is a false hope, though, if you expect to "write once, run everywhere".
Juhani